''The Widow Couderc'' (french: La veuve Couderc) is a 1971 French drama film based on the 1942 novel of the same name by Georges Simenon.

Plot

In 1934, in a little village on a canal in Burgundy, a laconic young stranger called Jean is walking along the road when an older woman in black gets off a bus with a heavy load. He helps her carry it to her farm, where she offers him work and a room. He accepts, and soon she is in his bed. She is the widow Couderc, running the farm single-handed with her infirm father-in-law. Across the canal live her sister-in-law and ineffectual husband, who are trying to evict the widow and gain the property. They have a 16-year-old daughter, Félicie, who has already managed to have a baby, father uncertain. Jean enjoys helping on the farm, but will reveal little of his past. His father was rich, he says, and he wanted to become a doctor but killed a man, ending up in jail from which he has escaped. The widow accepts his story, but her trust is strained when he can't resist sleeping with the alluring Félicie as well. The situation is taken out of her hands when her sister-in-law denounces Jean to the police, who surround the farm at dawn. When Jean fires on them, both he and the widow are killed in the ensuing fusillade.

Cast

* Simone Signoret - Tati Couderc *

Alain Delon Alain Fabien Maurice Marcel Delon (; born 8 November 1935) is a French actor and filmmaker. He was one of Europe's most prominent actors and screen sex symbols in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. In 1985, he won the César Award for Best Actor for h ...

- Jean Lavigne *

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- Félicie *

Jean Tissier Jean Tissier (1896–1973) was a French stage, film and television actor.Goble p.440 A prolific actor, he had more than two hundred fifty appearances on screen during his career. He was married to the actress Georgette Tissier. Selected filmograp ...

- Henri Couderc *

Monique Chaumette Monique Chaumette (born 4 April 1927) is a French actress. She appeared in more than forty films since 1958. She was married to Philippe Noiret Philippe Noiret (; 1 October 1930 – 23 November 2006) was a French film actor. Life and career No ...

- Françoise *

Boby Lapointe Robert Jean-François Joseph Pascal Lapointe (; 16 April 1922 – 29 June 1972), better known by his stage name Boby Lapointe (), was a French actor and singer, noted for his humorous texts, alliterationsSee the titles: ''Aubade à Lydie en do'' ...

- Désiré * Pierre Collet - commissaire Mallet * François Valorbe - colonel Luc de Mortemont * Jean-Pierre Castaldi

Reception

The film opened at number one at the box office in Paris with a first week gross of $163,000.

References

External links

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Review of film
at

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

1971 drama films French drama films Films based on Belgian novels Films based on works by Georges Simenon Films directed by Pierre Granier-Deferre Films scored by Philippe Sarde 1970s French films {{1970s-drama-film-stub